December Favourites

 Happy New Year. Not something we tend to celebrate despite Scottish ancestry only two generations back, and I expect to be in bed and asleep before the clock strikes 12. 

I have a few favourite cards from December. The first was for my brother's anniversary.  The third was primarily to use up the selfie frame which I had backed with embossed vellum and it just didn't work for whatever I expected it to at the time. 

The busker with his dog was cut from gorgeous black velvet, and in looking for a simple background, I thought that particular gel print looked a little longer a swirling  pavement.

Despite my best efforts and intentions, I will have no photos from December to use as a blog header when December 2022 rolls around. I've been keeping an eye out, but it's been a pretty grey and dull month, mostly.  And I forgot to update my header for Jan 22 before turning the PC off, so my second job tomorrow will be to see what photos I might have from January 2021 to use as a header. First job is to move my two-day Italian bread recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi onto the day two processes early enough to have it baked by lunchtime.  Right now the biga is rising. 

Christmas wishes

I was given a kit with felt animal ornaments last year, and have slowly been making them. This polar bear was my first attempt. There was a deer and a penguin which have both found homes elsewhere, and a less successful fox who looks as if he is wearing black wellington boots, a bit odd.

The snowman was also a kit for needlefelting on a form. The instructions required a lot of hot-glue gun work, which I did without altogether, managing to felt the nose onto the head and the head onto the body, and using black roving instead of sticking buttons on. I also wasn't very taken with the enormously thick brown felt supplied for the hat and scarf, and thought I would rather knit the little bobble hat from Arne and Carlos's Field Guide to Knitted Birds - having knit one for Lorraine I had an idea the size was probably about right. But those tiny pompoms aren't easy.

 

November favourites

...are very thin on the ground, but as we have reached December I'll include a couple of Christmas cards I was particularly happy with.

The blog header is some borage flowers on a frosty morning last December. I was interested to find it in my December folder, as it's in full bloom at the moment. And yet it feels very late to me - I'm sure we saw it in borders in the gardens in Fota when we were there in July. Maybe mine is late because I sowed it too late and it was so dry. Surely a flower used as the traditional garnish for Pimms should be a summer flower. I planted it for the bees, but by the time it finally flowerd there weren't many around. 

Work Commute

 I count myself blessed that half my cycle ride to work is through the Phoenix Park. I don't carry a camera, but I did absolutely have to stop on Monday morning to snap the deer on our first really frosty morning. I was an hour later than usual on Monday because I knew I'd be on-site on Tuesday too, so for once it was lightening instead of still dark.

This was earlier in the year -actually back in September, so it was sunrise around 7 in the morning, and it was a beautiful foggy morning with the sun just breaking through.

And, not on the way to work but the route I usually take to the library, which runs parallel to the main road and is slightly farther, but has a cycle track - I thought the leaf fall pattern on this tree was very unusual.

October Favourites

 October felt like a very busy month, and I didn't feel I got a lot made. I did have a couple of Christmas cards I really liked, but have only included one here.

It took me a lot of experimentation to find photo paper which worked well with smooshed DOX backgrounds, but in the end I got lucky in Dealz (like a dollar store)

The card above was for a "spooky" challenge. I don't really do the spooky side of Halloween, but took my inspiration from these lilies I had seen in the Botanic Gardens, which instantly made me think "ghost flowers".

A long-ago leftover background and some leftover tinted paste gave me this

Sentiment to be added when I send it. The textured background had been in my box for quite some time - hot glue on card, with stamped and coloured tissue paper over it

This one I was very happy with - the challenge was to use a stamp or die in a manner other than that for which it was originally intended, and after a LOT of looking through my stamps, I thought I could turn this umbrella into a passable butterfly. 

Autumn fades

 I took a trip to Farmleigh one morning last week when it was bright and sunny - and on the chillier side. Most of the colour from my previous visit had gone, and the herbaceous borders had pretty much been cleared out. 

I really liked the decaying hosta leaf, and in the walled garden, a rose petal had fallen onto a leaf. 

Better late...

 All month I have been meaning to get back and add some photos from the Sculpture in Context exhibition. Life just seems too busy - but a singularly wet morning and a day off are a good combination.

All 74 photos I uploaded from my visit are HERE, but for anyone like me with less time, here's my quick pick of some favourites.

This was a whole array of raised dishes in a circle under some trees. The fallen leaves were a great addition

There was a companion hare to go with the fox

I'm pretty sure I remember a chickenwire sculpture from another year, a fox perhaps. I must look back. 

I can't remember the title of this, I think it had Spring in it. I would have called it Bird Brain.

September Favourites

 October has come in with a sudden drop in temperatures - a warmer duvet on the bed, heat on in the mornings for half an hour, and time to put away my cycling shorts till the Spring.

I didn't feel very productive in September - the darker evenings don't help, and of course we were away for a week. But here are my favourite cards... thank you, Lorraine, for two stamps and the stamped lighthouse image (plus your card to use as inspiration). 

This was a two-for-one stencil background - this was the stencilled one, and I added flocking to the deer's antlers, which turned out very well. The second monoprint background was used for the floral birthday card. 

A rainbow-themed challenge was a good opportunity to pull out this rainbow-coloured scratch paper - it's embossed, and then gently wiped with a baby-wipe.

Having put away my shorts and pulled out my leggings, I cycled over to the Botanic Gardens today and will be along next week (I hope) with some photos from the Sculpture in Context exhibition.